5 Powerful Ways to Avoid Major Mindset Mistakes

Mindset mistakes - the often accidental, always detrimental goofs we make out of short-sightedness, fear, self-doubt, or sheer habit. These common brain blunders are fueled by an established set of beliefs that probably don't suit us anymore.

Gee whiz, but wouldn't it be nice to discover a few handy techniques to sidestep these success zappers once and for all...especially in these prickly economic times?

You got it.

The following 5 Powerful Ways to Avoid Major Mindset Mistakes have been carefully chosen and keenly crafted to help you get out of overwhelm and into living your ideal lifestyle and business reality. Drum roll, please...

#1: BREATHE!

When you consciously take time to breathe - literally, to feel your breathing patterns, and pay attention to the methodic, in-and-out rhythm and process - you're taking time to reconnect with your passions and sense of purpose. This "quiet" time gives you a chance to GET CLEAR about:

- Your goal(s)

- Your Target Market/Ideal Audience

- Your offer(s)

- Your business, marketing, and socializing strategies

Once you get some clarity, you can make decisions from a place of power, and calmly focus on your next step...and then your next one...and then your next one... infinity!

#2: Surround Yourself With Success-minded People

You've heard the saying "You are what you eat," right? There's a similar saying that suggests "You are the average of the five people you hang out with most." Success-minded people are Prosperity Conscious (as opposed to Poverty Conscious). Instead of problems, limits, and misery, Success-minded People focus on:

- Abundance

- Gratitude

- Opportunity

- Strengths and Assets

- Joy (!!)

Success-minded people act with vision, and generously share insights, best practices, and better success strategies. More importantly, Success-minded People see and believe in the best of you, so they BRING out the best in you...as long as you let them.

As for your Poverty Conscious friends, no need to ditch them. Just bump up your awareness of the difference between the two mindsets. Then, actively decide how much influence you're willing to give to those who don't necessarily see eye to eye with your present sensibilities.

#3: Watch Your Language!

Assignment: Listen to yourself - your inner and outer chatter, your exchanges with others, your full-on conversations with whoever you meet and mix with - for one whole day.

Listen to the words you use to describe the goings-on of your life. Literally, pay attention to the nouns, the verbs, the subtle details and not-so-subtle nuances. At the end of the day, take inventory.

What did you hear? Did you find you hemmed and hawed about all the little things that bugged you?

Or did you put on rose-colored glasses with determination and gusto, make the most out of whatever came your way, and infuse laughter and levity into even the thorniest situations?

If you listen reeeeal carefully, you'll discover this interesting fact: YOU dictate your own reality with the language you choose, and the self-talk that ricochets around in your head. You're the first to declare what's possible for you, what your limitations are, and how other people should value you and your efforts. Honest. It's just the darndest thing. Try it.

#4: Plan for SUCCESS

You can spend all your time "Avoiding Failure," or you can put your attention, energy, focus, and momentum into your vision of SUCCESS. It's one or the other, people. You can't do both.

Once you decide to plan for SUCCESS, a strange thing happens. You start asking yourself what it means to be a SUCCESS. You start looking for ways to create SUCCESS in your life and business. Details arise. You know in order to be a SUCCESS, you're going to need A, B, and C in place. So you begin to take action to get those ducks in a row.

You adopt different habits, because you notice the successful people you know are playing a different game than the rest of the pack. You're thinking differently, making different decisions, sidestepping roadblocks, ignoring naysayers, confronting challenges head-on, with your eyes on the prize.

And it feels reeeeeaaaaaaaaalllllly good.

#5: Take ACTION!!!

The difference between success and failure is 10 minutes. That's right, we said it. Ten. Ideas hang out in the metaphysical realm - they swirl and swoosh and tease and taunt - until someone decides to grab one and put some kinetic chutzpah behind it. This blast of action, 99 times out of 100, takes less than 10 minutes.

It could be as simple as picking up a pen and sketching out a plan in an old notebook. It could be picking up the phone and starting a conversation with a designer, bookkeeper, or paleontologist. It could be signing up for a class, scheduling an appointment, or shooting an email to a former client.

Now, maybe that 10 minutes won't change the rotation of the Earth...yet. However, it now holds grand potential. It could be the very first step in a series of 5-10 minute action steps. And when those itty-bitty action steps start adding up, they become greater than the sum of their parts.

As do you.

1...2...3...4...5...All Together Now!

Okay, so let's take a look at things now that you've welcomed these five steps into your everyday life.

You've ditched the frenetic panic and adopted the habit of breathing, listening, and getting clear with yourself and your vision. You're hanging out with very cool people - people who support you and guide you and share insights that rock your world, time and time again. You've changed the way you talk to others, and more importantly, you've changed the way you talk to yourself.

You've got a solid plan, and you're working it like a champ. You're a business person of ACTION now. You ACT like a successful business owner. Not surprisingly, your business is now a success.

As Dr. Seuss says: "And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.) KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!"